Scotty Moore with Elvis in the beginning!
Elvis Presley was a force of nature in the world of music, but without his trusty backing musicians he couldn’t have made nearly the impact that he did. Scotty Moore, who played guitar for Elvis for many years, has passed away at the age of 84. No cause of death is known at the moment, but he had been in poor health for a few months prior to his passing.
In the early ’50s, Moore moved to Memphis and formed a group called the Starlite Wranglers with bassist Bill Black. In 1954, Moore and Black were chosen to back up a then teenaged Elvis on his first single “That’s All Right (Mama).” Moore would go on to play on such iconic songs as “Heartbreak Hotel,” “Hound Dog,” “Blue Suede Shoes,” and “Jailhouse Rock.” He also appeared in four of Elvis’ movies. Moore was fired by Sun Records after recording a solo album, but reunited with Elvis for his 1968 comeback special.
Moore was named one of the 100 greatest guitarists of all-time by Rolling Stone, and he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000. Keith Richards, a guitar legend in his own right, had this to say on the legacy of Scotty Moore: “When I heard ‘Heartbreak Hotel,’ I knew what I wanted to do in life. It was as plain as day. All I wanted to do in the world was to be able to play and sound like that. Everyone else wanted to be Elvis, I wanted to be Scotty.” That’s about as high praise as one can get.
Uproxx
https://www.yahoo.com/music/scotty-moore-elvis-presleys-guitarist-033918067.html
[This article contains several videos of Scotty playing behind Elvis.]* * * * *
Mack Rice, Writer of ‘Mustang Sally’
Bonny “Mack” Rice (November 10, 1933 – June 27, 2016), sometimes credited as Sir Mack Rice, was an American songwriter and singer. His best-known composition, and biggest hit as a solo performer, was “Mustang Sally.” He also wrote “Respect Yourself” with Luther Ingram.
Rice was born in Clarksdale, Mississippi. He began his work in the R&B field in the 1950s based in Detroit, performing with the Five Scalders in 1956 and with the Falcons, a group whose members included Eddie Floyd, Wilson Pickett and Joe Stubbs, from 1957 to 1963. He performed as a solo vocalist in the years to follow, but his biggest successes were as songwriter for other artists on labels like Stax and others in the 1960s and following decades. He began his solo vocalist career at Stax in 1967, recording on Atco Records beginning in 1968. Rice is one of the few musicians whose career touched both Motown and Stax Records.
As a solo recording artist, he had two chart hits: “Mustang Sally”, which reached number 15 on the Billboard R&B chart in 1965, and “Coal Man”, which reached number 48 on the soul music chart in 1969. Besides “Mustang Sally”, which also became a major hit for Wilson Pickett in 1966, and “Respect Yourself”, a hit for the Staple Singers, his other songs include “Betcha Can’t Kiss Me (Just One Time)”, “Cheaper to Keep Her”, “Cadillac Assembly Line”, “Money Talks”, “Cold Women With Warm Hearts”, “Do the Funky Penguin, Pt. 1”, “It Sho Ain’t Me”, and “Santa Claus Wants Some Lovin'”. His compositions have been performed by many well-known artists, including the Staple Singers, Ike and Tina Turner, Albert King, Johnnie Taylor, Shirley Brown, Rufus Thomas, Etta James, Billy Eckstine, Eddie Floyd, Buddy Guy, The Rascals, The Kingsmen, Wilson Pickett, Albert Collins, Busta Rhymes, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Otis Clay and The Blues Brothers (in Blues Brothers 2000).
In 1992, backed by the soul band The Dynatones, Rice released his first solo album, Right Now on Blue Suit Records, recorded and mixed by Steve Scharren at Scharren Studios in Toledo, Ohio. On it he reprised a number of his hit songs along with a mixture of new tunes.
Rice continued to live in the Detroit area. He died at home in Detroit on June 27, 2016, aged 82, from complications of Alzheimer’s disease.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mack_Rice